Photo (CC) by uberof202ff, on Flickr

Many retailers experience a sales slump during after the holiday season. How do you respond?

The slump comes as no surprise and most small-business owners know they just need to plan for it and ride it out. They think of it as time to work in the business and perhaps to grab a short vacation. Those are good ways to spend your time. Everyone needs a break and spending time restocking, cleaning and reorganizing can add freshness to your visual merchandising.

There are other approaches you can take, however. These range from bringing more people into the store during this slow period to working on business growth in the future.

Bringing more people can be done through directed mailings/emails. It can be a time when you aim for a new audience. Maybe you do a charity event or drive. This may be a time for you to start your own holiday (See our post, “Start Your Own Holiday”) or grab on to an existing one such as Groundhog’s Day or “Winnie the Pooh” day (Jan. 18th). or “International Fun at Work Day” (Jan. 26th).

But for long term growth and success, this may be the time to look forward. To make the most of your time, here are three possible efforts you could pick from:

• Internal efficiency and staff development – Do a deep dive into your data. Examine new technology and trends. Break out the list of consumer complaints looking for common areas of frustration. Include staff in these discussions. Also, plan some staff training and some fun.
• Develop your supply side – Maybe its time to have coffee with your sources of goods and materials. Are there opportunities for you to access additional items at cheaper prices or better terms? Do they have any special programs that you are not taking advantage of? Are you using technology effectively in your ordering and inventory control? Finally, what do they see as upcoming trends in the marketplace? It’s also a time for you to interview new potential suppliers. These may be your primary suppliers or backup suppliers or suppliers of specialty items that may complement what you are already offering.
• Better understand your customer base – Make an appointment with your top 10 customers. How can you get a greater share of their business? What issues have they had with your company? What trends do they see in the future and how will your business need to change to respond? How do they know who might be a new customer (and will they help you approach them)? What type of marketing is most effective in their view? You may also do surveys of your entire customer base or a short survey of customers as they come into the store. Also, some general market surveys to look at name and brand awareness might provide information. Finally, dig into the data. How is the make-up of your community and market changing? Perhaps you want to talk with some elected officials and other community leaders for their thoughts on your business, your market, the community and the future.

Getting this information is a great first step. However, you also need to use it and to do it now. Do some “what if” scenarios, some brainstorming, a SWOT analysis, scenario planning, etc. Include not only management but employees and your mentors/advisers. Even family members may be someone you want to have at the table.

So don’t look at this as your slow time. Make this your GROWTH time!!

Photo (CC) by Innovative Impact Media, on Flickr

Help? I am swamped.

So get an ad in the paper and get some employees, right?

Sorry, this isn’t the time. When you are overwhelmed is not the time you want to hire someone for several reasons.

First and foremost, you will rush the process. Steps will be skipped such as reference checking.

Second, you will speed up the process and maybe not get your advertisement into all of the right places or allow the position to remain open long enough to let candidates discover the opening, check out the possibility and get their paperwork in.

Also, you won’t have time to get your network in action to find and encouragement applicants.

Fourth, you are more likely to take someone who “sort of” meets the job duties instead of finding the best person for the job.

Finally, you probably won’t know exactly what you want the new person to do. And when you do have the person on board, you won’t have time to adequately train and mentor him or her.

So when is the right time to hire and how should an owner go about the process?

Determining the right time is tricky. The scenario outlined above certainly indicates reasons why you should not wait too long.

But as cash flow problems is one of the most common issues for small businesses, hiring someone too early will just increase the likelihood of it happening. You want to hire someone when that person will make money for the business. This can occur through increased production or sales most likely.

Also, as you consider hiring, you want to have all of the tasks the new person will perform part of the same skill set. Hiring a person to do what are really parts of two separate positions requiring two separate sets of skills doesn’t work. First, you have the problem of finding people with such unique backgrounds. Then there is the problem of getting the right balance in the work. The job mix in often controlled by what the person prefers to do versus what actually needs doing.

The need to hire can fill you with dread, higher costs, need for additional time spent managing, cash flow issues, hiring the wrong person, etc.

Don’t let the fears and unknowns stop you. It’s a great time. Your company is growing. Understand the issues, include it in your planning, and make it happen.

Photo (CC) by Terry Johnston, on Flickr

Small-business owners always are looking for opportunities to build their business.

Some of the ways owners do this are through providing what customers want, working hard, and offering the right selection at the right price and trying to attract the right market.

These are all needed elements of a successful business. Yet there is an additional underlying core element that will help you build your business. That element is trust.

Trust or reputation cannot be quantified nor can it be bought. Trust is built by actions, words and deeds.

Business owners need to determine the values or principles that are the underlying support piers for their business. You may have seen a business post its values or print them on statements or elsewhere. It is not uncommon for them to be part of the “About You” section of their web page.

Remember though, trust is not in what you say but what you do.

So what does the business owner need to think about when building trust?

Obviously, you need to focus on your product or service. Does it do what you promise? Is it reliable?

But that is only part of the trust relationship. Trust probably comes more to the forefront when people talk about how you do business.

Customer service is another area where you need to build trust.

Building trust goes beyond your specific business. It involves being respected in your industry. And it certainly means being respected in your community. Are you a good neighbor?

You want to build trust with, obviously, your customers. But don’t stop there. You must also build it with suppliers, other business owners, financial backers, and the community. You even need to build trust between you as the business owner and family members. Family members are an important part of that small business.”

Here are some specific ways to build trust:

• Do what you promise
• Meet, or beat, the promises and the deadlines you set
• Acknowledge a mistake and correct it
• Be authentic
• Be transparent in your actions.
• Be visible and active in your business and in your community

Trust is a big deal in our personal relationships and in our workplace relationships with co-workers and customers. Developing trust and maintaining that trust is key to successful workplace environments, building a strong customer base and the overall prosperity of a business.

Trust builds successful small businesses. Work on building it every day.